Mining and banking groups are leading the market lower ahead of the much anticipated UK GDP figures, due shortly.

The FTSE 100 has dipped 8.54 points to 5935.31, with weaker commodity prices leaving miners lower. Kazakhmys is down 34p at £15.24 while Randgold Resources has slipped 92p to £49.43.

Among the banks Lloyds Banking Group had fallen 1.03p to 64.02p while Barclays is down 0.45p at 300.05p. The sector has been hit by fears Sir John Vickers will recommend a major overhaul of the banks, while worries about the economy are not helping. Spain is also in focus as it prepares for further bond issues, while investors will also be watching the latest developments with the Irish budget. Ilya Spivak, currency strategist at Daily FX, said:

All eyes are on the fourth-quarter UK GDP release.... as a second consecutive period of above-trend growth threatens to stoke expectations that the Bank of England will accelerate the move toward interest rate hikes in the months ahead. In the Euro Zone, all eyes are on a Spanish three- and six-month debt sale, with the currency bloc's number-four economy trying to place up 3bn in issues. Later in the session, US consumer confidence data will come into the spotlight, as will 22 of the 33 S&P 500 earnings releases that are slated to cross the wires with Europe still online.

Among the risers, engineering group GKN has jumped 4.5p to 212.4p following better than expected results from Germany's Siemens, while Johnson Matthey - which specialises in catalytic convertors for cars - has climbed 29p to £19.60 on hopes of an improving automotive industry.

BSkyB has added 5.5p to 755.5p after culture secretary Jeremy Hunt said News Corporation could put forward further proposals to show how its proposed takeover of the satellite broadcaster would not harm competition.